A highly unusual Valentines Day... but a great one!

Happy Valentines Day!

It's week three and I've just had my first Valentine's Day in Africa! To celebrate the day, and because our dear friend Charlotte is going back to Ireland, four of us (all female) decided to go for dinner in Arusha, the major town a few kilometers from the school.

Around five buses leave the school around 6pm after our Standard 4 children finish after-school study (in preparation for state exams at the end of the year). So we took one of those buses into Arusha with the children and staff. The bus took us quite a few diversions in order to drop everyone off and we were one of the last stops. What a fascinating way to see the local area! We sat beside a couple of teachers who gave us a running commentary. I really have been sheltered in the school the last two weeks. I know in theory that the people beyond our cushy compound are poor, and I’ve been to some developing countries like Vietnam but this is different. This is really, really, really poor. And I suspect I’ve barely scratched the surface of the poverty that lies behind the town.

So I’ve decided that at least two days a week we will take a different bus and just see where it goes, since all the buses come back to the school after everyone has been dropped off. I’m sure we will gain some fascinating insights in the process.

We planned to go to a nice Indian restaurant but it was close so we ended up in an outdoor restaurant called Khans Barbeque on Mosque St (so named because there’s a mosque on the corner). Owned by an Indian family, it is a mechanic’s workshop by day. By night it is transformed into an open air, on-the-street barbeque, with tables along the footpath/pavement. It sounds awful but it’s really very charming. There is a variety of barbequed meat, and for the veggies, there is every imaginable dip and salad (again, a lot of beans and maize products as usual).

So we four, single women had a fabulous Valentine’s dinner in this most unorthodox and very tasty restaurant on a narrow and yet busy barely paved street in the middle of Arusha, with cars, hand-drawn wheelbarrows pedestrians and worshipping muslims going to the Mosque milling past. There were a cacophony of sounds but it was never intrusive or overly distracting – in fact it was quite comforting level of busieness. Overall, it was a Valentine’s night I’m sure I will remember, which is more than I can say for most others!

I did get one card from my friend Enjuvai in 3D (she would be around eleven). She drew my pictures of butterflies and flowers and wrote me a little letter telling me about herself, and asking me questions about myself. I was unsure how to reply or in fact, whether or not to, but what the hell, I bought her a little card and answered her questions about my family, my favourite subject and my favourite animal! I've promised I'll even show her a picture of my darling dog Ben.